City Hospitals See a Decrease in Patients During the Holidays

This year was one of the coldest Spring Festivals to ever hit China, even so city hospitals saw a decrease in the number of emergency patients compared to the previous years. A hospital spokesperson said the number of patients had decreased at least 20 percent, but there were more cases of patients with serious conditions this year.

The emergency ward of Shenzhen People’s Hospital, which has the largest emergency department in the city, received around 700 patients a day during the festival, only 400 patients fewer than they receive on regular working days. On January 25 and 26 the center saw more than 800 patients in a day. Hospital medical staff were on holiday from January 22 to 25. Some doctors were asked to stay in case of emergencies, and the hospital saw no reason to call in more staff on holiday since nothing serious happened during the week-long holiday.

Both Beijing University Shenzhen Hospital and Shenzhen No. 2 People’s Hospital received about 500 patients a day, which is also a decrease. Most patients they encountered were suffering from injuries or alcohol related cases, though these also saw a decrease in numbers compared to years past.

With many residents choosing to stay home for the holidays because of the cold weather, there were fewer cases of patients with colds, but there were more cases where illnesses were due to bad eating habits during the holidays.

Shenzhen heat brings in more patientsDue to increasing hot weather this past week, some of Shenzhen’s major hospitals have seen a 20 to 30 percent patients more. Beijing University Shenzhen Hospital receives 12 patients suffering...

More hospitals to be added by 2015The city health department said that they will be adding a new hospital in Bao’an District by the year 2014. Xin’an Hospital will be the second biggest hospital in the...